LIMA — Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy has been a fixture at the June luncheons for the Allen County Republican Party, and as the party faithful met Friday at the Lima Eagles, Kennedy came not just as a supreme court justice, but one running for the court’s top role.
Kennedy is currently running against fellow Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner for the Chief Justice position currently held by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, whose term will end at the end of the year. Kennedy hopes to bring a sense of collaboration and cooperation to the position when it comes to working with other courts throughout the state.
“As I step into a county, I want to respect the independence and the community’s choice to identify, solve and resolve problems the way they think will best meet the needs of the community,” she said. “So I see my role as a facilitator in helping them be successful.”
The Ohio Supreme Court has garnered increased public attention in recent months as it has ruled unconstitutional a number of new district maps proposed by the legislature’s redistricting commission. For Kennedy, this has served as a means for increasing public knowledge of and interest in this judicial body.
“For the first time in my history at the court, and I’ve been there almost 10 years, I have literally had in luncheons like this people come up and say, ‘I’ve actually read a case,’” she said. “They’re usually reading one of the redistricting cases, and it’s their perspective of who was right and wrong in it. So as you start looking at that, it really becomes more foundational to say that we believe that judges say what the law says, not what it should be. We also say that the power of the judiciary is limited to just that, to following the text and applying it.”
Kennedy has also been working to promote veterans treatment courts in the state’s judicial system. Similar to drug treatment courts for those with drug abuse-related offenses, these courts work with veterans who have returned to civilian life and have had trouble reintegrating. One of these courts has been operating in Lima since 2020 working with veterans who have committed an offense.
“A lot of times it’s assault, domestic violence or alcohol or drug-related offenses,” Lima Municipal Court Magistrate John Payne said. “They have a lot of stuff going on, so what we try to do is we put them in treatment court. We connect them with the Dayton VA, if they’re qualified. If they’re not qualified, then we work with local treatment providers to get them treatment.”
Participants have a fellow veteran paired with them through the process as a means of support, Payne said, and other peer-to-peer support structures have also been set up to help veterans get the help they need. Payne said that 11 veterans have participated in the 12 to 18-month program locally since 2020, with four graduating so far.
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